Oh! What I wouldn't do for a letter
from Lesley. Still, I can do little except
wait, at least for the time being.

Did little after breakfast, and hung about at length in the common room. At times life
hardly seems worth living.

Double chemistry after assembly, which cheered me up not much. I wanted us to do a
practical, but others thought differently, and Clod
carried on dictating to use the 'A' level chemistry syllabus, which I did not bother to copy
down. I shall have to buy a copy of the syllabus.

After that, maths with Drax. He deserves his reputation,
I am afraid, of not being a very good teacher.

After that, break, in which, as usual, we confined ourselves to perambulation.

Then study, in which I read more of
“Time for a Tiger”. It is
really getting good now.

Then physics, and had our last results checked, and then were given the most difficult
experiment in the book - No. 1. Specific gravity bottles, etc.

Orchestra practice after lunch, and the music for
the Pirates had not yet come,
and as a result we had to make do with various symphonic movements. I am getting more
confident on the Fagott.

Then to the common room, wrote up my diary, and on with
“Time for a Tiger”. That book
makes me long for a good decent tinned Tiger.

After a while, the inevitable happened,
and Dicky came along and said we should have
some tea. To the fort, and then complied.

After tea, back to the common room, which I had not intended to do, but back soon to the Pad
Lab.

Specific gravity bottles are annoying. They are so maddingly easy to use, but need to be
dried out 3 times in the course of the experiment - in the chemistry labs. Took us quite
some time to get the experiment finished.

Then to the common room, and spent most of first prep deciding who to admit to the
Phot. Soc.

In dormitory, Dicky and I went on a rampage,
shouting what we thought of the Pommes [?]. Nearly ended up in a full scale race
riot.

Oh! for a letter from somebody I know. Is it that she doesn't care about me, or is she just
too damn lazy? Perhaps it is just that I am soft, or innocent, or in love, but I cannot but
feel that it is the second alternative. I hope she can bring herself to write fairly soon.

After assembly, double maths, which tends to violently depress
me. Jimmy awarded several new notebooks,
including one to me. I am ending up with hundreds of notebooks of various kind - my study
place is full to overflowing. He said something today about
finishing complex numbers - Gott
sei Dank. Too complex for my liking.

Then art lecture, which was very funny, although tempered by the presence
of Pen's niece.

After break, chemistry, and Clod was away on a match,
so Atkinson and I decided the term's program
for the photographic society.

Then english - Daddy G does not like my writing.

After lunch, as ever to the san, and then back to the common room, and was wasting my time
when Dicky discovered that my electronic flash
was not charging. Tried to see if it would charge off the mains, but could not find the
charger, and in the end to the wireless club, took it apart, and charged it internally with
a couple of test prods connected to the mains. That worked well enough, and then I got some
batteries from my tape recorder, and put them in, and it worked on them. Unfortunately,
during the proceedings I got tangled up with Whitmarsh, and was severely detained thereto.
Up, as of old, to the Geography room, and wrote up for yesterday.

Then to tea, and spoke to Hallett, and got him
to show the little bastards how to print while I got some stuff in town.

First to Grays, and looked at the Pentax refconverter [?], which I like, and 2× magnifier, which I do not. Then
to the PO, and Manders [?] for bottle and 32%. Back at school they were in a
glorious mess, but cutting exposure by 2 increased contrast.

Sunday: the day of rest. In some remote circumstances I suppose that that could be true,
but all I get rest from is from the worry about why I have not got a letter
from Lesley. Even that worry, however, is
not completely gone.

Up to the darkroom after breakfast, and got down to making up some Promicrol - I have got through about a gallon and a half [7 litres] in the
past year. It took me rather longer than I expected, and I only just finished it in time
for chapel.

Chapel - as ever. I get terribly depressed at times by school routine, and I wish that
something out of the ordinary would occasionally happen.

After chapel, up to the darkroom, and started loading one hell of a lot of film into
cassettes: 5 ft XXX, 5 ft
XX, 20 ft +X, 20 ft HP3, and 5 ft of Perutz 16. Quite a lot of film.

Had intended to do some prints after that, but time was so obviously against us that I gave
it up as a bad job.

After lunch, to find permission from Mr. Gilks to miss the film to print some photos, and he
gave it only too willingly.

Then up again, after first going to the san, and printed some of the HP3 which we took a week ago. Considering the speed (1600 ASA), there was remarkably little
grain. I shall have to start taking Mark V or XX at 1000 ASA as a normal.

Looking back from 2017, I have to agree. All film of the time seems particularly
grainy, but the faster film is not that much worse.

Then off for a walk, in which we got tangled up with the lieres [?], and soon back
again.

Up to the darkroom after a fairly leisurely tea, and suddenly discovered we had nothing to
print, and so sat down, had a measure of coffee, and spoke at length about Pentaces.

After a while, down, and took, in the failing light, a couple of shots
of Hallett's eye -
depth of field was terrible.

Dicky came back with an exposed roll of
PX, and asked us to develop it.

Accordingly up to the darkroom after supper, and
found Hal trying to load it into my tank. Did
it for him in the end. Not bad exposure without a meter.

Oh! for a letter. Has she completely forsaken me? Is she out of stamps? Is she too busy,
dead, has she forgotten how to write, lost her pen, is
the Ashford postal service on
strike, what?

After breakfast, tidying up the darkroom, and made a pretty average job thereof.

Then mechanics, which, I fear, I am not grasping too well. I shall have to do a lot more
extra-curricular work on it. I wish we had a better teacher
than Drax - it certainly seems to be true enough, what
they say about him being a lousy teacher.

Then double chemistry, and Clod decided we ought to find
if there was any nitrogen in cheese, and
so blew our own ignition tubes, and warmed it up
with sodium, etc, and after one failure
was nevertheless the first bloke to get a positive reaction.

After break, double maths, and Hallett nearly
turned up as well. I suppose there is nothing like being keen.

I wish we would get off series.

Then, after lunch, over to the san, and to room 26 to enlist for the Taunton and Somerset Music festival. Then
took some chairs to big school, and to the common room, where I hung around until the mob
cleared out somewhat, and then started writing up my diary.

After that, had intended to write a letter to Dad, but decided I would finish
“Time for a Tiger” instead, and
did so. This took me a good portion of the afternoon, and after it I felt so depressed,
that I merely strolled round doing nothing, my heard spending its time alternatively 173¼
miles [Ashford, really 275 km or
171 miles]) and 8000 miles [KL, really 10,717 km or 6,660 miles] away.

Oh! To be out of this place, with a loaf of bread beneath the bough, a book of verse, a jug
of wine, etc.

And thou?

Then to tea, until I discovered they were serving lemon curd, and then went back to the
common room and ate the bit of wedding cake
that TDH had given me.

After that, sat round further in the common room discussing colour film
with Dicky, and brought out my test sheet, and
showed it to Dicky, and he agreed that
Ektachrome was the best film
there.

To the wireless club in hobbies prep, and did little, as Christy had his TV going. Saw a
live broadcast from New York about
the Pope's visit there.

Oh God! Why the absence of letters. Does she really care that little about me? I shall
have to take drastic action if I get none tomorrow.

Over to see the doctor during assembly, and he decided that my piles were now sufficiently well to do
without the ointment which, he contended, was the cause of the rash just below. Diagnosed
my other rash as tinea, which I interpret
as athelete's crutch - reminds me of a dirty joke.

Then to physics, and was awarded a physics note book
by Pad, and to show my gratitude started using it to
prove that I knew about cgs
and mks units.

Then chemistry, ans do few people had got yesterday that he told us to go at it again.
Meanwhile, Atkinson and I used 2 different
methods to prove that chloral
hydrate contained chlorine - both
worked.

After break, study period, in which I had intended to work, but got rather carried away
talking to Green
about Op Art.

Then finally got down to my maths, and could do none of it. Why does our maths prep have to
pile up so?

After lunch, nothing to do, and, as I must try to stop, hung around in the common room
crying my eyes out and cursing Dicky for his
manifold sins.

Then wrote up my diary when most people had gone out, after which I started reading
“The enemy in the
blanket”, whatever that might mean. It is set in a town with the very dubious name of
Kenching [piss] in the state of Dahaga [thirst]. It all sounds a little
morbid to me, and I have come across at least 2 references to real people whom we knew
in KB 10 years ago. Gawd. No wonder
he [Anthony Burgess] lost
his [court] case.

Then to tea, although somewhat reluctantly, and back to the common room trying to give away
entry forms to the Mazda flash competition.

Down to 28 for double (maths and more maths), and spent half an hour doing our prep. At the
end of this time Jimmy had still not come, and
so we went to look for him, and discovered that he was sick.

Back to the common room, and read more about the enemy in the blanket. It still seems not
very appropriate.

And so goes by another day without a letter from somebody I know. It really does depress
me, and I should not let it get me down.

After breakfast, over to the san. I think this athelete's crutch of mine is terribly
amusing.

After assembly, P.E and then a study period for me, and I decided it was about time I was a
little more insistent on a letter
from Lesley. As a result, wrote her a
letter, and enclosed a stamped addressed envelope and 3 sheets of paper, and started looking
round for a big envelope to put them into, and up to the science library to
find Atkinson, but could not.

In the lecture, Dicky was gloating over getting
a letter from Liliane, which did me no good.
She wants to call him Ricky. So be it.

After break, down to the more serious work of the day. I think I am winning my struggle
with complex numbers.

Then chemistry, in which we did nothing,
although Hal had intended to finish off his
experiment.

After lunch got a KB14 out of my camera in the darkroom - it had come off the spool. Damned
nuisance. Then choir practice, which did not last at all long.

Then to the common room, to write up my diary, and so got down to it. After that, had
intended to various things, but instead got on with the
“Enemy in the blanket”.
Very interesting, especially when one knows the background as I do.

After that, when Ricky came in I got him to
lend me some stamps, wrote a letter to AW Young for him, and went to look
for Atkinson.

Finally found him, and discovered that the envelopes were second hand, and decided I might
as well get one in town.

After roll call, slowly down to town with Hal
walking. I wish he would get a bike.

First to the library, renewed my membership. Then to Smiths, got an envelope, and also a
little loose leaf pocket folder [i.e. file] which I can use for an exposure record.
To the PO, Grays (did nothing there), and finally to Harris to order AP for the society.

The fact that for the past week the mail has not arrived until after breakfast lately has
not helped my nerves. Today I came back from the san, and
asked Ricky if there was any mail
from Lesley. He said no, but there was a
parcel from A.W. Young and a letter from Mazda.

Dealt out some of the paper - also got the Mark V. Then along to assembly, lamenting, as
usual, not getting a letter.

Then mechanics, and some not-very nice comments by Drax
about my showing in the last test.

Then Hal lent me a Komura lens book, and back to
the common room. To my utmost astonishment, found a letter
from Lesley. That
bastard Ricky deliberately didn't tell me about
it. So overjoyed that I could barely write a reply - hands were trembling. She had quite a
few nice things to say about me. I suppose it is “absence makes the heart grow fonder” in
this case.

Then lecture - not bad, but not good.

After break, double physics with Pad, which is one of the
2 most boring periods in the week. He just drones on and on and on and on ./. ./. ./.
./. [musical repeat symbols]

Wind band practice after lunch, and on with the March
from Holst's whatsit.

After that, back to the common room to grab a short bit of time before I went off to my
clarinet lesson, in order to
write up my diary, but in came Cowan to talk about photography, and thus got very little
written up.

After that, clarinet lesson,
for which I was late. Forward was nearly sick when I walked in, and so to cheer him up I
played his music for him - sightreading.

Then did a bit of messing around with various
scales, arpeggios, etc. I think old
whatshisname is rather amused by all my odd fingerings, etc.

Then back to the common room, up to the careers room, and wrote up my diary. Downstairs,
took a couple of photos of Ricky, and off to a
faggott lesson.

That went on until 1600 hrs, which was convenient, as it gave me a chance to get a bit of a
rest before going on to double maths.

Double maths was good and interesting enough, but we got one hell of a prep. At
least Jimmy appreciates that I do not have as
much time as Norman, and is trying to set preps of different sizes.

This cartoon was in my paper diary, but I didn't refer to it. The reference is
to Soekarno.

Hardly expected a letter from Lesley today,
and was not even disappointed when there was none.

After breakfast, over to the san as usual, and then back to the common room. The san rather
wastes all my time between breakfast and assembly.

After assembly, chemistry, and spoke with Hal
about photography until Clod came in and said something
about estimating the purity of a copper coin, and so, before too long, we had weighed a
halfpenny and dissolved it in HNO₃,
and made it up to a litre.

Then mechanics, and we are still going round in circles - vertical ones this time.

After break, discovered I had not yet done my physics prep, and so got it straight off
Malcolm, and back to reading my Pentax literature.

Then physics, and I could just as well have come 30 minutes late. Did nothing till then
except wonder if I should not make EX or EH my standard
colour negative film.

After lunch, orchestra practice, and TDH
revealed that the music for
the Pirates had not yet come,
and so on with the various symphonic stuff that we have been doing lately.

After that, back to the common room, and wrote up for yesterday - I am still lagging by
about half a page, but don't think it is serious - and then to carry on with
the enemy in the blanket
- I have nearly finished now.

People started pouring in at about 1330, and so gave it up as a bad job, and wandered round
looking for Ricky, and then back to the common
room, where we got Ingles to write something for us to stick up
on Ricky's study place.

Then a rather complicated experiment about
simple pendula, in which I discovered
that I was sort of dozing off and not counting straight.

Finally finished, and worked it out, and got a value of 924
for g, and decided that
there must be some invisible planet circling overhead, and thus altering g

We were using cgs units, so the correct
value should have been 981 cm/s².

And so drags life on, with little to break the monotony thereof. Over to the san after
breakfast, as for the past 3 weeks, and the usual, back to the common room. I sometimes
wonder what makes me keep a diary in this place. It must be terribly monotonous, and I
seldom read it again. Still, I suppose it is the only remaining trace of an orderly mind.

Then maths, and just when we thought he had forgotten about
it, Jimmy gave us a test, which, mercifully,
was very easy.

After break, which we spent taking photos round the school, chemistry, and did nothing
except mess around with my camera, etc.

Then english - had a précis to do. Estimated it quite accurately.

After lunch, had intended to write up my diary immediately, but fate was not that kind to
me, and so spent my time doing little of any use. God - this place has infinite powers of
depression, and that is what it was excercising. Just as Bernie Newman was asking me if I
had a decent radio, Proctor ran in to tell me that he had just put 250 V across the aerial
coil, and that it had done it much good. It still functioned, however, and before I left I
put a couple of capacitors in the aerial circuit so that he could not do it again.

Then in, and after a bit of messing around
with Ricky
and Hally, finally up to the careers room, and
wrote up my diary.

Then decided that, as I was fed up with school, I might as well get out and go down town.
Told Hal, and thus along to town, to Grays to
have a look at some wide angle lenses, which did not please them, and then to Maunders to
look at a Zenith, and there bumped
into Miranda Baudouy, who is a receptionist at
the
Castle.

After supper, nearly full moon, and took some photos thereof. I have seen considerably
better definition.

Oh, the weekends are far more exhausting than the weeks. I really must get out of the rut
for once.

UP to the darkroom after breakfast with Callow to
see how he had done, and then down again and to the wireless club, where I listened to the
news and fixed up a broken connection in
my R.F. stage.

Then out again, and got hold of about twice as much stuff as I could carry, and took it up
to the darkroom, and watched Curtis and Nedham making maces out of lead and copper tacks.

Then chapel, and did little there - it is so much a matter of routine that it only really
serves to break up the morning. I am getting to feel the time passing quicker now, though,
after all these years.

Then up and developed 3 films. There must be something wrong with my tanks - they are
nowadays almost impossible to load properly. I wonder if a Paterson 35 mm tank would be any
easier.

Then after lunch to the war memorial quadrangle for a while, and then up and printed Daw's
photos for him. I think I shall have to stop offering a printing service - the wastage is
too unpredictable, and it also takes up too much time. I still want to develop films though
- I am now only 2 off the 100 mark.

Then off for a walk, Hal violently complaining
that I was walking too fast. I have never heard that complaint
from Parſifal. Tried out my first pipe of Big
Ben this term. Ah! Götternektar, or some such ridiculous cliché.

Back again just in time for tea, after taking numerous macrophotos on Ilford Mark V. I hope
it is good film.

After tea, roll call, etc, up again, and Hal had
some photos which he wanted to do for Bunting. Certainly took his time about it.

Then we did some for Hurst, which were pretty crappy. I blame it all on this
Cobrol [?] developer. Thank God it is nearly finished. Next time I shall get D163.

Was going to use the darkroom after supper,
but Ricky decided to use it, and got quite
nasty. Really in a bad mood. Poor old Rick.

No mail today again, but I was rather expecting it. I think this late mail is mainly due to
a change in the train timetables, or some such mess. In any case, it is a damn nuisance.
Ricky, however, got a letter from some friend
of Lilianes, enclosing a photo of
her. Ricky, for some reason, did not
appreciate it.

Then mechanics, and we are on to simple harmonic motion now. Not only are we going round in
circles, as earlier - we have a phase lag as well.

Then double chemistry, in which we did several titrations, which I am getting rather bored
with.

Then on and had to make up some starch, and so on, and for some reason
the KI was not strong enough -
all very indeterminate.

In break, VSM, and down to the hospital and to the chemists and late back. Double Maths,
and we are on with the calculus again. Good.

Then, after lunch, to the common room. Rest is one of the least profitable times of the day
- I seldom get anything out it.

Then all out, and got down to writing up my diary, and then decided, once and for all, that
it was about time I wrote a letter to Dad, and so did so, and then down town and to Clement
Clarkes to have my eyes tested, and waited around at great length, persuading myself that
reading still strained my eyes, etc, and in the actual test decided that I needed a +0,25
sph in my left eye, but he left it the same

Back to school, did a bit of music practice, as I felt a bit depressed, and carried on much
longer than I had intended.

Then into tea, and nothing worth eating, and so out again fairly soon, and after talking to
Hal for some time, to the wireless club.

After that, he came along, and I showed him something about how a communications receiver
worked. Also adjusted
my oscilloscope.

Then over to the San, and to Miss Gill's house.
She gave me a grade III book.

My opening gambit about mail no longer seems appropriate now that it is no longer the first
thing in the morning. Today, after coming back from the San, thinking that I would probably
be getting some gentle hints about photos that I had to sent to various people, I found a
letter from Jennifer Paton containing just such
gentle hints. Must do something about it tomorrow.

After assembly double physics, and on with rotational dynamics, which was sufficient to take
Pad a complete double period. Why the hell is double
physics so deadly boring? I make out that I am a scientist, but I can barely stand going to
any science classes because of the masters concerned. Chemistry next
with Clod, which we spent writing up for yesterday. It
is all terribly slack, and one gets the feeling we have no objective.

To the bank in break, and saw one of the sub-managers, Mr. Leech (ha, ha!) [Leech was one
of my nicknames], and deposited £3 and £213 [?] $13, and
gave Mrs. Baudouy's name as a nominee.

It's difficult both to read and interpret the numbers. The second could be £2/3. The
$ sum is probably MYR. The “nominee”
suggests that I used this money to open the account.

Then back to school, and did nothing until lunch - I really am getting lethargic lately.

After lunch, did little - first upstairs to write up my diary, but ended up having to do it
in the common room. Then to the haircutting room, but the bloke had not turned up, so I
gave it up as a bad job, and went back to the common room.

Then outside, and saw Archie, and went down to watch what matches were going on, and take a
few photos therof. Then up again, as Archie wanted to see some test prints of my Pentax - he has just been given a
Spotmatic himself, but
it looks none too hot mechanically.

Then to the Woodard study, and there was given a shoulder pad by Archie, who had been given
2 of them - complete with “Asahi Pentax” written on them. Makes it stay on a lot better.
Also looks good.

In those days, good cameras had relatively thin (1 cm) leather straps, and that's what
I got with my camera. The pad was of synthetic rubber, and still much thinner than modern
straps. This could be the pad in question:

Then, after tea, double maths, and did little. It is all terribly exhausting or something,
but I really must do something about it. On now with all sorts of odd aspects of the
calculus, which I must read up. All these ds/dψ's and things.

After that, over to the san, and then back to the common room, and started to do my
mechanics prep -there is another grouse. Did not get them all out.

Wednesdays, I feel, depress me - it is an unfulfilled taste of the weekend, and the rather
sudden reversion to work in the evening is rather an unpleasant one.

After breakfast, did nothing worth doing, and I wonder how much of this is
Ricky's[?] fault. I wonder if I could
get back into that habit I once had of doing music practice before assembly.

After assembly, study period, which I spent, at any rate, not doing much work. The ration
of work for the week is rather uneven. Must see if I can do anything about it.

Then lecture, in which Mansell had a lot to
say about Greek plays, morals, and homosexual practices. Rather crude.

Credo in
unum deum, according to a B
minorBach. Very good, but a little
difficult to follow I feel there are better possible interpretations than this.

After break, maths, in which we were given some notes, and then chemistry, the first ⅓ of
which Clod spent talking to me about my prospects of
getting a scholarship to Gonville
and Caius.

No choir practice after lunch, which rather pleased me. Into the common room, and was
promptly beset up by Archie, who wanted me to lend him a 135 mm f/3.5 Super Takumar, and
this I did.

At the end of rest, decided that I might as well go down to watch the rugger, and went and
got my 135 from Archie, and down. Changed to the 400 after a while, and then sat round
taking photos of the masters, etc.

Up at half time, or rather a little after, to write up my diary, and then got hold of as
much stuff as I needed and enlisted Hal's help
to get it up to the darkroom. Then to tea.

After tea, up, found Pad's gown, and took a few photos of
us wearing it. All very amusing.

Then got down to printing the holiday shots, and it took us about 15 minutes to make as many
prints. Then, as we had finished the Cobrol, went down town to get some D163, and did not
have enough money. However, bumped into the bursar, and he got an account going for us.

I was expecting, and rather hoping for, a letter
from Lesley after breakfast today, but alas!
none came. I feel depressed as a result.

To mechanics, feeling no happier, and I decided that it was about time I wrote a hint to
Lesley. I think I shall make a point of
writing to her every Thursday 2nd period, and at the same time asked her to make a similar
arrangement for Tuesdays, as she has written all her letters to me so far this term on
Tuesday.

Then lecture, and Mansell had some more
slides to show us, which were, on the whole, better exposed.

After break, double physics. I think it is imperative to take notes in such periods, not
lest one forgets, but to relieve the monotony of it all.

After lunch, no wind band practice, which somewhat pleased me, and then to the common room,
and hung round doing nothing but read a letter which had come in the afternoon post from
Lesley. I always just seem to anticipate the
arrival of her letters. In any case, I suppose I shall have to write to her again before
the week is out.

Then was going to write up my diary, but got caught in an article about rhythm of life, etc,
etc, and so had to leave it until after my clarinet lesson, in which we experimented
a lot with tongueing, and so on. Back, finished my diary, and then along to tea, and thence
to a bassoon lesson. Ah, verily,
there is no rest for the wicked.

Worked out more about this
“bio-rhythm” article afterwards, and
it all seems rather dodgy to me.

Then double maths, and Jimmy got down to giving
us some notes about this calculus that we have been doing, and it is all clearing up
somewhat.

It's not clear what this was about. My application continued for nearly a year, until
I decided I didn't want to stay
in England. And I recall further
discussions of the matter up to nearly a year
later.

cheque book from the bank; Straits Budget; and Popular Photography for November, which I feel was a little late.

After assembly, chemistry, and on with another practical, to determine the percentage of
available chlorine in bleaching powder,
and we had a pretty lousy specimen of the latter. I got, however, a pretty constant if
small, titer.

Then mechanics, and on with more simple harmonic motion - I am getting the hang now [not
the swing of it?], but also find it rather boring.

After break, study period, in which I did little. According to
this bio-rhythm article, I am at the
bottom of my intellectual cycle at the moment, so there is not much point trying to do much
about it.

After lunch, orchestra practice, and not feeling very well anyway, nor very happy, did not
turn up until about 10 minutes after the thing had started. 5 minutes later, they had run
out of bassoon music, so I went
back to the common room again.

Then all out, and after a while in came Cowan to talk about colour films, not before,
however, I had nearly finished my diary. Spoke then at great length about colour films, and
persuaded him to try Ektachrome X, and he intends to do so. We may well have quite a few people using Ektachrome in the near future.

Then to the tuck shop, got some food, and back to the common room for a discussions on a
less elevated with Cookson and his little boys.

Then to tea, after which went straight up to the Padlab and discussed money
with Atkinson, who just happened to be up
there.

Then on with the determination of the sensitivity of a balance, and also
of g. Very bad result.

After supper, choir practice, after which I discovered I have been invited to a dance and
St. Brandans next week. Ha! Ha!

And again the weekend is back upon us - this life really gets me down.

P.N.W. arrived today,3 days late - Harris's really are a slack mob.
Saw Atkinson over at the san, and back to the
science library afterwards to get his accounts up to date, etc, and then to assembly.

Got our tests from last week back in maths, and it seems that I did not do at all badly - in
fact, got the highest mark (95%).

Then art lecture, and unfortunately the headmaster's niece as not there. I reckon that she
is at some university, and has gone back since last we met.

Then down town, and basksed [?] some money which I got
from Atkinson in conjunction with the
photographic society.

After break, chemistry, and Clod was talking us blind
about bleaching powder.

English - I did fairly well in the précis. Then he started talking politics. That got me
foxed.

After lunch, nothing to do, and as a result did nothing. Decided that I might as well go
down and watch the match, especially as Archie Rollinson had borrowed my 135, and so down
and took a good few photos of people watching the match.

Then up again, god my diary, and up to the science library to write it up. Also worked out
my bio-rhythm figures for the next
month or so.

Down town after roll call, and first to
the Castle Hotel, where I
saw Miranda, and asked her again to get my
boater for me next time she went to Netherton.

After that, did a few odds and ends, but did little of importance, as I had no money.

After that, back with some fish and chips, and sat outside the wireless club talking until
prep.

Tried to get some photos of street lights after support, but not very inspiring, and went in
and wrote a somewhat more inspired letter
to Lesley.

Bio-rhythm could just possibly explain
why I am feeling so low lately - I am apparently at a double minimum. One of these days I
may get round to sorting the whole mess out.

After breakfast, over to the san, and then back to the common room, and there finished
writing my letter to Lesley.

Finished that, and then got hold of all my darkroom stuff, and took it up to the darkroom,
and then down to robe up for chapel.

Chapel is about the only uniform part of the week which takes up at all much time - it is
thus a waste therof. I sit a good portion of the time and try to think pleasant thoughts.

After chapel, up to the darkroom, developed 3 films, and thus passed my century mark this
year [100 films developed]. Rather pleased me - but the tanks are very stiff to
load. I sometimes wonder if a Nikkor might not be better.

After lunch, felt even more depressed than usual, and as a
result, Hal and I decided that we would not do
any printing, and so showed Slob Davis how to use the new darkroom equipment, and then got
various equipment and went off on a walk.

Archie Rollinson and Curtis were using the place we went to last week, so that was out, and
so went on to a place that Parſifal and I used
about a year ago, a bit further on. Stayed for quite some time, and then decided that we
had better head back if we were not to miss the film. Got back in plenty of time, and made
certain to post my letter before I went into the film. Then in, and another western -
“High Noon”, which was a very
interesting film. It all took place in almost exactly the time it took to show - about an
hour and a half. I don't like westerns generally, but this one was not too bad.

Then out, and had an hour to spare, so we went up to the darkroom and printed the Mark V
that I did this morning.

Tidied up after supper, and spent most of the evening in the science library.

And another week. Time seems to be accelerating - the weeks are just slipping by, and as a
result every day seems to be the same - except for the little figures in pencil above on
either side of the month. I must examine them carefully.

No mail - not that I expected any. I still rather hope I will get one
from Lesley on Thursday.

Mechanics, and Drax gave us a test, which proved very
easy, so I spent the rest of the period working out equations
for bio-rhythm, and differentiating
them.

Then double chemistry, which was icy until I turned a couple
of bunsen burners onto a couple of
tripods. Titrating H₂O₂
against Na₂S₂O₃.

Flute lesson, and did the
Mozart andante, which has suddenly
become easier. I quite like it. Also “Les Cygnes”.

Then maths, and talking about homogeneous coördinates, etc. Maths for science, which was so
much easier as to be almost a breath of fresh air.

In rest, carrying on with these equations for bio-rhythm, and came to the conclusion
that a second order differential equation in 3 trigonometrical functions is insoluble.

Then up to the science library and wrote a letter to AEI [or AEC?], and then wrote up
my diary, and worked out my bio-rhythm for the rest of the year.

Then down again, posted the letter, and to the Library, and got into a conversation with
Henton and Seaver, and discussed all the usual vices. Then along to tea, where I
met Hal.

After tea, along to the Wireless club, and did a bit of messing around with my PCR to get the speaker that Skiv gave me last
term on to the thing. Gives considerably better reproduction - I never realised what a good
reproduction a 6V6 could give at 3 W output.

Stayed until about 1650, and then to do some music practice. Then to piano lesson, and played some incidental
music to Abdelazar
by Purcell.

Oh the tedium! Is it merely that I am down on my male/aggressive cycle? In any case, I am
just counting the days until half-term.

No mail as usual - shall have to wait until Thursday for that, and am fairly confident of
getting it then - it is quite scandalous the way the letters coming
from Ashford take 2 days. I shall
have to write to the Times about it -
but I doubt the letter will get there.

Double physics, and Pad went up the wall because we had
not done any work recently. Gave us some rotational dynamics question to do. Better than a
monologue.

After that, chemistry, and carried on with our organic chemistry notes. Nobody here seems
to have any drive.

Double study after break, in which, amongst other things, I managed to get my negative album
filled up to the end of the holidays.

After lunch, dancing club meeting, which I nearly forgot about, and were each given a copy
of the rules, and a declaration to sign that we would abide by them. All a little annoying,
but nothing to which I object too violently. I wonder what it will be like on Saturday
night.

Then turned up for pioneers for the first time this term, and as a result of so much
inactivity was so energetic that I astounded everybody - they actually got me to carry 2
cwt [100 kg] of cement about 50 yards, which is just a little bit of a strain, and
rather over 3 times the maximum permissible for my age (but what about size ?)

Then tea, after which double maths, and for once it went very quickly indeed. This is
rather interesting now - I hope I carry on doing as well.

Then to prep, and finished off our physics, and completely forgot about the mechanics, which
was not very nice [?]. I hope Drax does not get
too annoyed.

2nd prep did little. Saw Tyson after prep - had a
dictophone to convert to Hi-Fi.

Wednesday is a nuisance - it gives just a taste of the weekend and leaves one thirsting for
more. One hell of a big parcel arrived today from Marston and Heard, containing everything
I had ordered, and a lot of odd bits of newspaper, etc.

P.E. first, for the first time this term, and strange to say, I rather enjoyed it. I shall
end up as a muscleman yet.

Then lecture, for which I was just a little late as a result of PE, but not overwhelmingly
so.

Then music, and just as I was beginning to get excited about the prospect of hearing
the Sanctus
of Bach'sB minor
mass, TDH came in and said he could not
take us today, and would we please do a study period? Damn.

Over to the san in break - spots before my eyes. Nurse told me I had indigestion, and gave
me some MgSi₃O₄ [?]. Don't know what that had to do with it.

Then maths, in which I had lost all ability to concentrate, but somehow struggled through.
Did little in chemistry.

After lunch, again no choir practice. TDH
is getting very slack lately.

Free day, and managed to write up my diary, and then settle down in an armchair and read the
paper, but then entered Cowan, which was a bit of a nuisance. However, started talking
about photography, etc, and got moving with that, and, after a while, I gave up and went to
the wireless club and had a look at a TV that Pad had put
there to be repaired, and discovered that it had electromagnetic focusing. How amusing.

Then down town, and to see Miranda, who had
said she would bring my boater, but at the last moment forgot it. Damn.

To the library, and got Pantai Chinta Berahi out, and
then to Grays, showed an Exa 1a to
Aston, which helped his opinion of it, and then to Maunders, and showed him a Zenith 3M, which he liked even more.

Must do more work in prep. Skiv blew us up about
smoking, drinking, etc - dire consequences likely.

And on - and on. This diary is too repetitive lately. I only something would
happen [sic] a little more out of the way. Not even my usual Thursday letter from
Lesley to brighten my weary life. Oh, to be
back with her in Malaysia - or if only
she went to St. Brandons.

A rather sharp taste of life in mechanics, and Drax
spoke to me about my work, suggesting that if I didn't do something about bucking my ideas
up, I would not even get Maths for science 'A' level, let along maths and
more maths. I suppose he is right - I must work harder.

Then study, and for once I did, although it is my wont to write letters to my beloved at
such a time.

After break, double physics - Pad was not there, so
double study. Read Pantai Chinta Berahi - the fellow
was actually staying at the Prince Hotel
in KB, but thought a lot more of it
than when we were there on 17/VII/1965. Ach, nostalgia!

After lunch, etc, forgot about wind band practice until Bernie asked me if there was one,
but did not go down there all the same, but carried on reading Pantai Chinta Berahi. For
some reason it means more to me now than when last I read it, only 18 months ago - of course
it is less time (less than? maths) since we did exactly that trip ourselves, and my
fingernail still bears witness to
the Kuantan rest house.

Then stuck some posters on my study place, changed into my Sunday Suit, and off to
clarinet lesson. Spent a good
deal of time talking to Mr. Trevett (I think that
is how it is spelt) and he invited me over to his place (which is conveniently near the New
Inn [?]) any time I felt like it.

Then a bit to eat, and then a faggott lesson, which is getting very hard on the cheek muscles. Must do some more
practice, I suppose.

After that, bit of a rest, and then double maths. I must do a little better at all forms of
maths than I have been doing lately.

I was, after breakfast this morning, rather disappointed about the absence of a letter from
Lesley - it all seems rather careless, the
way she so seldom writes to me. Still, I don't suppose it reflects much about our
relationship.

Double chemistry, and when, ¼ hour late, Clod came in,
he said something about doing a rate of reaction experiment in order to find out the
relationship between rate of reaction and dilution,
which Clod insisted would be a straight line, and so on
with making yet another lot of
N/10 hypo. This is becoming
a way of life - I will never forget that mystic number 24,819.

Then mechanics, and on with various ways of
obtaining SHM, and we are
going all on about springs, etc. It all seems a little odd to me, but I think I understand
it.

Then, after break, study period, the first part of which I spent writing up my physics, and
then did a bit of reading Pantai Chinta Berahi. It
means a hell of a lot more now, only 18 months later.

Then physics, and Vodden asked us to have another go at the sensitivity of a balance, and so
on. It is beyond me why it does not come out.

Orchestra practice again after lunch, and left early again, as he still has not got the
bassoon part to
the Schubert Andante. Good - Good.

“Good - good” reminds me of a saying of one of our masters. The context suggests that
it was TDH.

Then turned up for pioneers, after first getting a chance to write up my diary, and did
absolutely nothing there - after Tuesday's efforts, I feel I have done enough work for the
term.

Then back, and talking about various crude subjects. The pioneers are a pretty obscene mob.

Then tea, which I attended late after reading a bit more of PCB. It really is a fascinating book.

Then double physics, and sat there working out the Lehnifleech [?] constants, (which
we reviewed specially), making readings over and over again,
getting Pad to look at our working - to no avail.
g'=2000gm/cm².

Got our maths over and done with in prep - what a sense of achievement. Choir practice as
normal.

There is no longer any point waking up until after breakfast - the only thing that made it
worthwhile before was the hope that I might get some letters, and now even that hope is
shattered.

Letters arrived at about 0750 this morning, and only just had time to read the expected
letter from Lesley before going down to Big
School. All very puzzling - I don't think she exactly wants to give me up, but it almost
seems that way. Still, she is down on her sexual cycle, so I blame it on that.

Maths, and a blowing up from Jimmy for not
doing all the prep - and a threat of a test on Monday.

Then art, which, I have decided, is probably the most boring of all the lecture/culture
periods. Still, I survived.

After break, chemistry, and just managed to finish my graph
before Clod came in. On with notes.

Then english, and a typical use of english comprehension paper, about mysticism.

This use of punctuation makes it difficult to understand. This was an exam question on
comprehension from the “Use of English” exam paper.

I found it quite easy, but what would happen if I were not interested.

After lunch, got round to writing up my diary (I am back up in the careers room now), and
then messed around a bit with the various gadgets on my camera, and then down to the bottom
fields to watch
the Marlborough match, which
was, even as rugger goes, pretty boring, and so did not take many photos. I had rather
hoped to finish off the film, but missed the mark by about 8 frames.

Then up again, and to the common room to arrange for going down town, etc.

Down town after roll call, and in to
see Miranda, and she told me
that Mrs. Baudouy would not be there over half
term. Rang her in confirmation, and then started wondering where I would go.

To Maunders, bought an EX 135-36 (I'm damned if I'm going to buy more than I have to from Grays), and back and to
change for the dance.

Then of for the dance, and rather interesting lot of birds, but none that would compare
with Lesley, and so did little, although all
was a little free as the Chaplain didn't care what we did.

Decided to hitchhike to Ashford in
half-term. Didn't get to bed until 2345 hrs.

Thank God B.S.T. ended today! I would have been absolutely dead tired were it not for that. As it was, I
just about made my 8 hours nominal sleep.

After breakfast, to the common room, and wrote an epistle
to Lesley, telling her of my love for her,
and that I would go to the end of the world for her again - or at any rate,
to Kent, which probably comes to the same
thing.

Then to chapel, etc, to try and forget her and wait until Thursday, when I would be down her
way. It did not help much...
The Provost presided (or did
whatever he is wont to do) at the service today, which,
as TDH remarked beforehand, added 10 minutes
on to the service, not counting the very long sermon that he also saw fit to give.

Little printing to do after chapel, thank God, for it seldom helps the quality of the prints
to do more than we can comfortably handle. Must get some hypo eliminator.

After lunch, decided not to bother about doing any more prints, and so wrote up my diary,
arranged all my odds and ends, and then decided to go an pay a visit
on Mr. Trevett. Accordingly, down towards the
park, and more or less found my way through it.

Got there, and discovered he was not home. Back again, nearly got hit by a golf ball, and
bumped into a fellow who has a pentax S3. Later on, also bumped into
an Exakta. Then to our usual place, and
sat down to consider the relative popularity of S.L.R's, as my observation
has it. Pentax comes out by
far the most popular SLR. Met Aston, and spoke to him about Zeniths..

Back to school, and present at the beginning of the film to admit photographic society
members, and then decided that it was not worth watching, and so into tea, where I was
waylaid by members of the art club who want photocopies [photographs] of their works
of art, etc. Accordingly up there after tea and it was quite fun - the amount of multiple
flash!

At the time, the term “photocopy” simply meant a photograph, as is confirmed by the
OED. The first reference to the modern usage is
attested in 1971.

Developed the film as well - all came out fine. To the wireless club after supper.

Thank God, half-term is coming up soon. It simplifies problems considerably, and also gives
me a chance to see Lesley again, which should
considerably increase my quota of happiness.

After breakfast, tidied up in the darkroom, and then down again. I really must find
something more absorbing to do before assembly.

Then mechanics, and Drax was talking about two springs.
It all seems terribly complicated, and somewhat pointless, but I suppose there is something
to it.

Then double chemistry, in which I grabbed a bit of time to revise my coördinate geometry,
and then on with more stuff about the rates of reactions, etc, all of which appears to be
terribly inaccurate, and thus rather inconclusive.

After break, double maths, and Jimmy said we
could do a few problems, and promptly gave us 20. Whew!

Then coördinate geometry test, and considering the scanty revision, I did not do too badly.

After lunch, down to Mountlands, and rang up Mrs
Baudouy about the half term weekend, and she did not like too much the idea of me
hitchhiking, but let me in the end.

Said I could stay with Gui in London if I wanted
to - would be useful. Then to see Sarge, and asked him if I might borrow a sleeping bag
over half term. Referred me to Mansell, and
after a bit of vaccilating, I went to see him. Laughed like a drain when I told him we were
short of beds at home. Lent me one in the end - one less worry. It is quite a nice small
thing, so I don't have to worry about taking tons of barang with me.

Then to the common room, carried on reading the Beach of Passionate
Love for a while, and then to the wireless club, messed around for a while with the
cathode follower phone O/P, and then decided it was a bad job, and put them on the O/P
transformer.

Then to tea, after which back again to the wireless club, and on with various things, and
tried to build a timing indicator in conjunction with the scope. Just as I had finished, in
walked Pen, who looked a bit impressed.

Mail is apparently back to normal - arrived before breakfast. I wonder what the cause was.
I hope it doesn't happen again, anyway. Letter
from Lesley, and she was rather pessimistic
about the chances of our being allowed to meet, but nonetheless very optimistic about our
actual chances of meeting. How can I say how glad I fee to have met a bird like her?

Also my boater from Mrs. Baudouy, which will
come in handy, though I do not intend to take it with me for half term.

Service in honour of King Alfred
after breakfast, which got us out of the first half of double physics - I wonder if it is a
reflection on Pad that we no longer have single physics?
Went over our physics prep, and now on with astromechanics [?], or some such subject.
All to wait until after half-term.

Then chemistry, which we spent writing up our experiments. Not much fun.

Reading Pantai Chinta Berahi in double study, and then decided
I had better write a letter to Lesley to see
how things were going, and did so - even managed to finish it.

Got a stamp from Daw after lunch, and posted it, also wrote up my diary, and then turned up
for pioneers with my camera. Got there early, and
when Drax turned up, he said something about getting
some ballast, or that we could not work because we had none, or some such thing. Knocked
off at 1500 hrs, after deciding that it was not going to come.

Then to the wireless club, with intention of listening to the radio, but no such luck - was
dragged by Proctor to detect the fault in his amplifier for him - what a rat's nest! Told
him to draw a circuit diagram, and retired in peace.

To tea, and then back to the C.R. and down for double maths. Spent our time doing all these
horrible problems which he had set us - got about half-way, and he wants us to finish them
by the time we next meet. Phew!

In prep, finished mechanics and maths for science prep, as well as P.C.B.

And another day closer to half-term. At breakfast today, had both PNW and AP to contend with - it does not look as if
I am going to be able to read my paper much on Wednesdays at this rate. Why do they not
publish PNW on some other day?

Spent after breakfast in the common room, as usual. What a waste of time. Then PE, after
Pen had had a few words to say about half term and
various vices which were not very popular with him. Spent P.E. doing some form of unarmed
combat - it does not seem very useful.

Spent lecture considering various naval tactics of the ancients, and it all seemed terribly
amusing, especially with Mansell's modern
analogies. Then music - the Sanctus,
Benedictus
and Agnus Dei
of the Bach. Stayed on to hear the end
of it.

After break, maths, and we spent most of it finding points in Δ's [triangles?].

Chemistry, and Clod was away. Spent our time talking
about photographic developing agents - I must brush up my organic chemistry.

Forgot about ATB [alto, tenor, bass voices] choir practice after lunch - all this
excitement about going tomorrow, no doubt - and went up to the careers room to write up my
diary.

Then down to the common room, but not for long, and then to the Wireless club, where found
Windmill and Whitmarsh, the latter of whom seems to delight in giving me coffee. I don't
mind.

Got some biscuits to eat with it, and got down to finding what was making the Y axis on
my scope jump all over the place
like the profile of the himalayas.
Found a valve base (ECF80) rather precariously soldered onto the PC board, and that did the
trick.

Then off again, and to the common room, and did little but mess around with my camera - am
experimenting with shortening the strap.

After roll call, down town, why I do not know, but to the library, returned PCB, and had a look for “Which reports about camera, but only found automatic camera reports.

To the Wireless club when I came back. Windmill has got his PCR 1 to work, for which I congratulate him.

And so begins the first hitchhiking holiday of my life. Before breakfast (at 0655, but now
we are back on GMT, it was earlier than last
week), got everything packed together, and ready to go as soon as grace was said.

Off in the direction of East reach, and walked about 2 miles before I finally got onto the
open road, and fairly quickly got a lift from a fellow going
to Shereborne[sic]. This was
not on the A303, but on the A30, which, according to the maps, is a still more important
place and so, partially against Green's advice,
and also because it was raining, went all the way. Traffic on the way out of town was
lousy, and when I finally did get a lift, it was only for about a mile. Carried on again,
and hit the Jackpot - the bloke was going all the way
to 7oaks
in Kent, and so accepted with joy, although
it would mean I would bypass London, and
thus not go to the bank of NSW.

After Guildford
in Surrey, traffic got very heavy, and the
area was also heavily built up, but we finally made it to 7oaks. Then got a petrol lorry to
about 4 miles from Maidstone - very
talkative bloke. Another lorry, which took me to 8 miles
from Ashford, but I left my
sleeping bag on his truck, and had to hitch another thing, and followed him nearly
to Canterbury, but could not find him.
Damn nuisance, and Mansell is going to be
pleased. Got another lift back to the Ashford turn off by a very public school (“Do I
recognized the tie? Oh, Kings Taunton” “No, actually I have a Leica
- I don't like these Japanese Cameras”). Then another things from some builders, to a mile
from Ashford, and so walked the rest of the way. After considerable searching, found East
Hill, the Refuge, Nightingale House usw, and looked in vain
for Lesley. Then to have some lunch, at
about 1515 hrs (just after the banks had closed), and then to look round town. Before too
long, hundreds of girls appeared, but not,
however, Lesley. One of the schools here has
the same colours as KCT. Thank God I
did not wear my boater!

Looked round town a bit for somewhere to sleep, and had a look at the church, to
photographers shops, wrote a card to Lesley,
had a free chest X-ray, spoke to the director of music at the church usw. Not very eventful
evening.

Gawd! What a hell of a restless night. Apart from the fact that the temperature was about
5°, the station where I ended up is hardly the quietest place in the world. The whole place
came rapidly to life at about 0530 hrs, as well, so I could not do much more sleeping.
Spent ¾ hour reading my diary from the time that I met
Lesley, and thinking about all the fun we had together.

Then to the church for 0700 hrs communion, primarily to keep warm, but as I was the only
person in the congregation, things took on a somewhat different aspect.

I'm not Christian, but I had learnt both
the Catholic
and Anglican rituals. The priest
asked me if I wanted to take communion, and I felt obliged, but responded in the Catholic
way by sticking my tongue out rather than taking
the host in my hands.

Then down to East Hill, and before long various Ashford School birds appeared, including
Lesley, and started down the church for
matins. I could not face going in again, so waited about outside until they were
finished. Lesley said something about seeing
me at 1330 hrs, and as it was not yet 0900, I decided I could go
into Canterbury and look for my
sleeping bag. This I did, and also had a look round Canterbury, which is a very nice little
town (in fact, I suppose it is a city). Had breakfast, and wrote a letter to Dad.

Back again, and to the Library. Then into the park, where a couple of very attractive young
birds came up and introduced
themselves. Ashford seems to be
crawling with good looking, eligible birds. Why not
so Taunton? Then had lunch, and to wait
about for Lesley, under the pretext of taking
photos of that part of Ashford. She could not get out, unfortunately, and so again to the
library, and read some books about parapsychology.. Not the most wonderful book I have read
- it seems to be a relatively early attempt, and no doubt pelicans would have more
up-to-date information on it.

Then to the park, went to sleep, woke up, and decided I had better buy some caffeine if I
wanted to continue the day without going off to sleep. Cheapest stuff was Pro-+, but twice
the price of the stuff that Green uses.

At 1620, to Geary's, where I was to
meet Lesley upstairs, but in fact met her
downstairs, and then proceeded up. She was buying a birthday card for Tony, and finally got
round to asking me when my birthday was. As she (24/VIII/1965), so I asked her to guess, and it took her about as long (Ooh, you're 17
now, are you?).

Then decided it was not worth doing a repeat of last night, and
besides, Lesley was worried about my welfare,
and so decided to hitch to London, but no
go, so back again and had a good time at the Duke of Marlborough in East hill (playing “on the street where you
live” on the juke box. Very appropriate, nicht wahr?).

Kicked off the station in the small hours, and asked to go down to the police station, whom
they suggested might be able to help. They couldn't, but the bloke there lent me a rug, and
to the park to sleep. Woke up to find it raining, changed places with the
formula nx₁ + mx₂ / m+n going around in my mind - it was rather
difficult to apply it to the rug.

A little later, to the station again, and the bloke there suggested I try the waiting room
at the station, which I did - quite warm enough, and I slept until morning.

Then up, staggered to the public conveniences, and washed up, etc, and had a couple of
caffeine to keep me going - I am really becoming too dependent on these drugs lately.

Hung around, doing little, until about 0945 hrs, wrote up my diary, etc, and then to Boots,
where we had arranged to meet again, and she arrived about 10 minutes late. Not that once
can do much in a shop - hardly even managed to talk.

Then invested 10d in half a loaf of bread, and to the park to devour it. God, this climate
is cold.

Then had lunch, and to the proposed meeting place to wait
for Lesley. This time (again 10 minutes
late) she had 3 other people instead of one. Had to keep my distance until we got out of
town, but then caught them up.

To my delight, discovered that we were going to split up after all,
and Lesley took me to some place which she
thought would be appropriate until the afternoon, but changed her mind just as I was getting
around with the preliminaries, and took me to another place, which I must admit was rather
better. There enjoyed ourselves as of old, although she said some rather disturbing things,
which I interpret as playing hard-to-get. Anyway, I rather feel that she was a bit
self-conscious, but in any case it was not badly so. I am sure she still loves me.

Then back again, and despite the fact that her friends were back with us, we carried on
holding hands, and even put our arms round each other. Lent a couple of her friends
(Rosemary and Sue [inevitable name?]) wore my scarf for me. [sic]

Did little in the evening - slept in the church most of the afternoon, and did not see
Lesley again except for a very short period
at 2015, when she lent me a very warm (or at any rate, heavy) rug. Bless her.

Turfed out of the waiting room at the station shortly after midnight, and down to the bench
by the church, where blanket and thoughts
of Lesley kept me warm enough. How can words
express what I feel about her? She is the most wonderful thing that has yet happened to me.

About 0430, a policeman came by, wanted to know what I was doing, and then proceeded to tell
me all his woes. Why should a fellow with a first class honors [sic] in history at
Oxford become a copper? Beyond me.

Up at about 0700 hrs, when the church sprang to life. Another policemen came, and showed me
where to stay if I ever roughed it
in Ashford again. Then discovered
that the left luggage office was not open on Sundays, and had to carry my belongings about
with me wherever I went.

Then to church, and sat next to Lesley,
though with a division between us. What a lousy service - but being next
to Lesley was enough for me. Then out, and
the Vicar came and said goodbye to me, and wished me a safe journey back
to Taunton.

Spent the morning over a couple of cups of coffee at the Ben². Had a fairly substantial
lunch there, and then to wait for Lesley, and
gave her back her rug (which had proved, in the daytime, a bit of an embarrassment). Then
off to the park - the only place, apparently, where we were not likely to be seen by staff.
5 others with her this time. However, behind a convenient tree, and told her what I thought
of her. She told me what she thought of me - that she liked me very much, but did not love
me, nor did she want to, as it might lead to complications. I suppose that is fair enough -
she admitted to never having been in love before. Got Sue to take some photos of us.

Then said our last sad good-bye, and (mainly for her friends benefit, I feel), kissed her
goodbye in front of them. Left her at 1445 hrs. Straight out of Ashford, and the weather
went to pot again. How does it always happen when I am hitching? Anyway, got as far
as Farnham with a first quick lift,

I'm fairly sure that's what I wrote, but it can't be right. Farnham is nowhere near
the route I took.

and then the 2nd (which again was very quick - people
from British Guiana) took me as
far as Victoria. 1½ hours from
outskirts of Ashford to East end [sic] of London, and 2¾ from when I said goodbye to
Lesley to when I arrived
in Gui's
flat. Gui was not there, and Raymond was still
suffering the effects of last night. Had makan, and fairly quickly off to bed.